Another Side of the Story
by Rose of the West
Summary: Severus Snape has been a spy, teacher, headmaster, husband, father and hero. Could life have anything new for him? Companion to "Two Sides Against the Middle" SSxOC
1. Famous Last Words

Spring, 2006

The snows of winter had melted and new growth was showing in the trees and flowerbeds. Professor Longbottom had overseen the replanting of certain herb beds as the Quidditch teams zoomed over the field in practice. The Easter Holidays were approaching and although the students knew they needed to study for finals, they often went outside to enjoy the sunshine on the last few days before their vacation started.

The Snape family was no different. They avoided too much contact with the students, but they enjoyed getting out to play. Brendon, who would start at the school the following fall, followed his brother-in-law around and asked questions about the healing properties of various plants. Young Severus snuck down to the Quidditch pitch to watch the teams practice. Felicity and Letty liked to follow Mama, sometimes running ahead of her, sometimes playing tag, and sometimes looking for flowers. The only one who had to be dragged outside was Albus, who spent far too much of his time reading his parents' books. Mum had worried about his desire to do nothing but read spell books until Dad had found a spell that would prevent him from reading the books on the Dark Arts.

On the night before the train would take the students back to London, Professor Severus Snape found his family sitting by the lake and watching the sun set. He helped his wife to stand and then couldn't resist sliding his hands around her face and kissing her. The four-year-old twins danced around their parents, enjoying the display, while the boys were less impressed. Brendon pointedly looked away while his youngest brother said, "Do you have to do that in front of us?" Albus looked up from the book he was reading and asked what he had missed.

The professor ruffled his middle son's hair and laughed. "It's time for you all to come inside and have your dinners and then your baths." There was a certain amount of token moaning as they slowly moved toward the castle, but not much. No one wanted to be the recipient of Dad's stern discipline. Mum would smile and comfort one when it was over, but she wouldn't prevent Dad's punishments to start with.

Several hours later, Professor Snape met his disheveled wife in their bedroom and tugged her toward the bathroom. "You could use some relaxation time," he said. She wanted to do a little more packing, but seeing the look in his eyes, she followed him instead.

He had filled the bathroom with candles and the tub was emitting a heady scent. "One of your concoctions?" she asked.

"I know a Healer who swears by some of the herbs I put into it," he murmured as he nosed aside the open top of her robe and kissed her throat. "Let me show you how to get the best efficacy from the mixture."

Before Emily knew exactly what was happening, he had unfastened her robe and dropped it to the floor. He was working at the buttons and fastenings of her blouse and skirt but she didn't notice as her own fingers were undressing him and her lips were kissing whatever part of him she could reach. As they finished undressing each other, he stepped into the tub and then lifted her into it with him. For the next several minutes relaxation was forgotten as they instead pursued marital bliss.

They found time to relax and bask in the glow of candlelight and love a little later. Severus sat against the back of the tub and held his wife against him. Occasionally he kissed the back of her neck or whispered something into her ear.

"This was just what I needed," said Emily as she idly played with her husband's hands that were resting upon the edges of the tub around her.

"Just what was that shift you worked, anyway?" asked her husband.

She thought a minute. "I was supposed to work from midnight until eight a.m., but there was an accident at a Magical Creatures shop and I had to stay until three this afternoon. You were in with your fifth year class, so I gathered up the children and took them outside."

"When do you go in again?"

"Monday, for a week of regular shifts, I hope."

"Hmm..." Severus enjoyed the moment a little longer. "Our life is just about perfect, isn't it?"

"We're quite fortunate."

"I have a wife whom I love and who loves me, children who delight us, a challenging but fulfilling job cramming magical knowledge into dunderheads... I can't imagine that any change could make it better."

* * *

The first night of vacation was spent at Grandma's house. Margo Smith still had the terraced house in London and enjoyed having her now rather large family around her. The entire family, including big sister Hope and her husband Neville, had dinner together.

Emily watched her oldest daughter carefully. There was something different about her that she couldn't put her finger upon. One possibility came to mind, but the mother wouldn't embarrass the daughter by asking. She glanced at Severus, wondering if there were some way to mention it to him, to warn him without causing general upset.

The upset came, anyway. Dinner wrapped up and everyone was finishing their dessert. Severus had one arm around Emily's chair and the twins were starting to look dazed and sleepy. Margo asked her oldest granddaughter how things were going in her life. Hope looked at Neville and smirked. Emily wanted to laugh at how much she looked like her father at that moment. She also knew that she had guessed correctly.

"Actually, there's something big going on with us right now. We're going to have a baby!"

Margo jumped up to kiss her granddaughter and Emily would have followed except that the arm behind her back went rock-hard with tension. She turned her smiling face toward her husband's stony one and caught his eye. Hoping he would get the message, she willed him to smile and be happy for the younger couple. After a minute, Severus's posture eased and a sort of non-smile crossed his face. It was the way he looked when he was forced to award points for merit to a Gryffindor student. Emily then felt it was safe to get up and embrace her daughter as the younger siblings crowded around and argued over whether the baby would be a girl or boy and which names they wanted for this niece or nephew.

The children were eventually sent upstairs to bath and bed while the two Healers wanted all the particulars of Hope's prenatal care to date. Emily laughingly told Hope about how, when she discovered her first pregnancy, she had to undergo an exam at the hospital as well as one each from the two grandmothers, all within two days. Margo approved the choices of midwife and Healer to oversee her case, noting that the one had delivered Albus while the other had delivered the twins.

Emily kept glancing at her husband. He unbent a little, but still looked a bit stunned by the news. She wasn't sure whether she should go to him or let things lie still until they went to bed themselves. Something in the way his free hand slowly opened and closed around his teaspoon made her choose the latter option.

At last they were alone in their bedroom, the door sealed against unexpected company. He didn't give her a chance to ask his thoughts but rather pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely. It didn't stop there but continued as he quickly undressed first her and then himself with a desperate need he rarely showed. It was not a time of soft caresses but of unfettered passion. Somewhere in that wild lovemaking, Emily saw stars. When her husband collapsed upon her, spent, she hugged him close, tracing her fingertips along his back, and kissing his chin and jawline.

"I hate to be so unrestrained with you," he finally whispered.

She shifted underneath him to see his face more clearly. "You know I find it exhilarating when it happens."

He shifted away from her so that he could rest his head in her bosom and put his arms around her waist, finding comfort in her embrace. For a few minutes, she simply stroked one hand through his hair as she rubbed his neck with her other hand.

"Severus, what is it?"

"I don't want to be old."

"Eventually we will have to be."

"I'm old now."

"Severus, you're just reaching the height of your powers. Your research is beyond the hopes of your peers, you have the respect of the entire wizarding world." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And you make love like a mythical god. How can you say you're old?"

"I'm going to be a grandfather. I'll be Grandpa Sev, sitting on a porch and telling stories of the old times to grandchildren."

"Is that how you plan to interact with our grandchildren? I pictured you teaching them Defense and dueling with them."

"I blame you, Emily. We should have put a stop to this when she first started writing notes to the dunderhead. No, you said. Let's see what actually happens, you said. I'm glad she has a friend, you said. Now look at what's happened. I'm going to be old."

"Severus Snape." Something in her tone of voice made him lift his head to look into his wife's eyes. "Do you remember our age when our first child was born?"

"I was twenty."

"I hadn't even turned twenty, yet. Do you recall how old she is?" He buried his head in her chest and she continued. "She will be twenty-six next week. Severus, would you have her wait so much longer than we did to experience the sort of joy she brought to us?"

His murmured "no" tickled against her bare skin, but she struggled to stay still. "I love you, Severus Snape. You're not any older than you were last night when you seduced me in the bath and told me how wonderful our life together is. Today we simply have another aspect of wonder to add. Please be happy for them if not for yourself."

"Hmphf." This murmur against her skin tickled, but it did something else, too. Without her realizing it, Emily's caresses changed from soothing to stimulating. Severus allowed himself to be drawn along by her hands and lips and found that he wanted to touch her everywhere. Even after having the twins she had managed to recover something of her youthful figure, taking a couple of years to do so. Her tummy would never be as flat as it was the night he first made love to her, but the changes were due to their children and reminded him of the love they had shared for many years, now. He kissed and caressed, taking his time. Her passion erupted in whispers of his name, over and over, finally subsiding in hiccupping sighs as his own world dissolved around him. His last waking thought was that if they could make love as they had this night, they would never be old, whether they were forty-six or a hundred and six.

* * *

The family separated the next morning to their different homes. Severus was able to hug his daughter good-bye and tell her, with some sincerity, that he was happy with her news. He was rewarded by a bright smile that almost made it worthwhile. It enabled him to shake hands cordially with the son-in-law who had caused this change to his life. Watching the two leave with a sigh of relief, he looked forward to transporting the children to Spinner's End. Perhaps if he didn't have to see Longbottom or his daughter too much, he wouldn't have to think about it until he had gotten used to the idea.

Not seeing the Longbottoms very often turned out to be a good idea. The less Severus had to face them, the easier it was to deal with the thought of his daughter's pregnancy. The Easter Holidays ended and the end of the school term soon followed. The time they got together in late July and Hope's robes were bulging out a bit over her middle was a bit hard to take. After being cordial through dinner and conversation later, and after hugging his daughter good-bye, Severus paced through his house and eventually came to rest in the kitchen where Emily was nursing a cup of tea. Something in her face stopped the diatribe that was on his lips.

"What is it?" He sat across from her.

She smiled and shook her head. "It's completely stupid, really."

"Did one of the children misbehave?"

"Oh, no!" she hastened to respond. "It's just a silly thing."

He moved closer and pulled her into his lap. He kissed her face, all along her hairline. "Tell me."

Emily looked sheepish and looked down. "She's not enjoying it at all. Two or three times a week she comes to my office to complain about the queasiness, the weight gain, the way people treat her differently at work. It's as though she doesn't appreciate it. I can't help wishing it was me. _I_ would appreciate it."

"Would you really want—"

She waved her hand. "No, I don't really want any more children and things are wonderful just as they are. I've never regretted what happened when the twins were born, truly, Severus. I just get these feelings, sometimes. I always loved to feel your child growing within me... Some people call it baby lust. That part of my life is over, but once in a while I miss it."

He held her there for a long while, not saying anything. His arms were snug around her and his lips were pressed just over her ear. After a while he felt her sigh with contentment and settle into his embrace. "Of course," she whispered, "under the right circumstances it could become a different sort of lust..."

"Your wish is my deepest desire."

Severus took his wife up to their bedroom and made love to her with a tenderness he would not have expected earlier in the evening. Before he had felt annoyed at the change his daughter was forcing upon him. Now he knew that Emily was experiencing the same change in her own way. It united them once again where they had been different. He was no longer all alone in his worries and fears any more than she was alone in enjoying the idea of a grandchild. Knowing that she had concerns mixed with her joyful feelings allowed him to mix happiness with his vexation.

* * *

The next week Professor Snape was summoned to Hogwarts for a meeting with the Board of Governors and the Headmistress. The Staff Room was full when he arrived and, based upon the looks of the faces, some decision had been made of which they would now inform him. He took the seat indicated and glanced around the room, expectantly.

"Severus," started Minerva McGonagall, "we wanted you to come here, quite simply, because I've decided to retire, effective immediately."

"You're joking," he responded.

"I assure you I am not. I suddenly find that the pressures of the school are too much for me."

"You thrive on it."

"That may be, but I shall have to find other sustenance, now."

Severus looked around the room suspiciously. "Why am I the only professor summoned here, today?"

The chair of the Board of Governors looked at the professor over his glasses. "You have been recommended to assume the position of Headmaster. The job is yours if you want it."

"How can that be? I should have thought causing the death of a previous occupant of that position, combined with the odd way I assumed the post in the past, would have rendered me unacceptable."

Another governor, the publisher of the _Daily Prophet_, spoke up. "Times and opinions change, Snape. You're the man. We expect you to take the job."

He looked around the room, expecting to find some reason not to accept in several of the faces turned toward him. He found nothing of the sort and actually found something completely different in some faces. Snape sighed and waved a hand expressively. "Very well. I shall have to scramble to replace some positions."

Minerva broke in. "The final decisions will be yours, of course, but I have some recommendations..."

* * *

Severus arrived home after a long working lunch in the Headmaster's office. Emily took one look at him and shooed the children out to de-gnome the garden. She led her husband to their bedroom, where she stripped his robe, coat, and shirt off and laid him on the bed. Emily started by working at the knots in his shoulder. After a while he started talking.

"She had already given my job away...to the mutt, no less."

"Is that the beginning of the story?"

"No," he said with a long, heaving sigh. "The beginning of the story is that Minerva has decided, within the last few weeks, to retire, and the Board wants me."

"As Headmaster?"

"You don't believe it, either."

"You are a brilliant choice for the job... and they've already hired Sirius to teach Defense?"

"No, they've just recommended him strongly to me, as well as suggesting that Cho Chang take over as Deputy Headmistress."

"Two people are needed to replace you," she observed.

"There's something at the back of it, I'm sure."

"Are you going with their recommendations?"

"Given the time I have, it might be best for the coming school year. If it doesn't work, I can always change it."

Emily rubbed as she listened to him describe the meeting. As he finished, she kissed her husband's back. When he moved as though to roll over, she firmly pressed him down. "Why don't you rest a while longer and then put your shirt and robe back on and join us in the garden? I can't decide which vegetables we should have with dinner tonight. Several are ready at once." So saying, she rose from the bed and walked out of the room, pausing just long enough to give her husband a flirtatious look over her shoulder. Her face was full of promises for the evening, which he intended to collect.

* * *

It was a bit of a struggle to adequately prepare, but eventually September First came and the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmeade Station. The younger members of the Snape family had their dinner, took their baths, and gathered around their mother, who read to them while they waited for Dad to come up from the Feast. They were halfway through the story of the Hopping Pot when the father of the family arrived.

Emily was the only one who noticed that the Headmaster's hands were shaking with rage as he came in. His eyes were set like empty black pools as he smiled gently and informed them that Brendon was in Ravenclaw. He embraced his younger children and sent them to bed. Glancing at his wife in agony, he then swept into the office, his robes billowing behind him. Emily followed silently.

The portrait over the desk looked at him expectantly, eyes twinkling over the glasses. "Someone might have warned me," stated the new Headmaster in a voice Emily knew was quiet but dangerous.

"We weren't sure if you would notice, or even if the problem would manifest itself this year."

"How could I not notice? A Slytherin and a Hufflepuff," responded Severus. "How am I to handle this? They think they're fully Muggle-born, but they're obviously the children of Yaxley and Mulciber."

"So it begins again."

"_AGAIN?_" This was a surprise.

"Surely you don't think it just started now, Severus? They came, in ones and twos, starting with your generation and up until the time young Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy were students. Voldemort's little soirées tended to end with young women being assaulted. Not all of the young women were killed and some conceived children."

"There weren't any in Slytherin..."

"Horace was difficult about this and we had a word with the Sorting hat to keep the Death Eater children out of Slytherin. By the time you were Head of that house, it was dangerous for a non pure-blood to be sorted there. Now it doesn't matter. Minerva, Pomona, Filius, and I kept an eye on things. To date, no one has married a sibling yet, but it takes a great deal of tact and discretion to break up some of the romances that come along. We had a few years off but calculated that we might see one last generation starting this year. Minerva didn't feel up to it any more."

Severus was speechless as he digested this information. He turned and looked at his wife, who had sat down, her face very white. He conjured a chair and sat next to her. "Do the Heads of Houses know about this?"

"I don't believe so. When Minerva realized this class could have some of those children in it, she told me she couldn't do this any more and started making plans to leave. Perhaps the Deputy Headmistress knows... I'm sorry to drop this on you, Severus, but you are the best equipped to handle this. Hopefully within a few years we will see the end of it."

"It's as if it will never end," responded the new Headmaster. He turned to his wife, who had wandered into her own train of thought with a worried look on her face. He sighed and waved a hand. "If it must be handled, we will handle it. Thank you, Albus."

As they prepared for bed that night, Severus looked seriously at his wife. "What made you look so worried when we were talking to the portrait?"

She smiled weakly, "It was something about the way you said it will never end."

"Are you worried?"

"I was going to talk to you about this during the weekend, but Albus has been trying to get into your books on the Dark Arts, again. It was like a compulsion, as though the books were calling to him. When I stopped him, he almost came out of a trance, Severus, and the thought crossed my mind that some things will never end. We must always be vigilant."

The father of the boy in question sat down on the bed. "Perhaps it is a compulsion. I could never really answer for what drew me to those books, myself. Power, I suppose."

"How do we protect him?"

"The problem with the Dark Arts is that he won't need protection. If they are drawing him, it's the rest of us who will need the protection."

"Then how—"

"I'll work with him. He's still just a child, Emily." Severus opened his arms and Emily stepped into them.

* * *

It was a dark and stormy November day when Severus looked up at lunch to see his wife's Patronus loping through the great hall toward him.

"Hope is at the hospital. Come when you can."

The Headmaster looked along the Staff Table and realized he was short one Herbology professor. He spoke quietly to the Deputy Headmistress and then tried not to make a stir as he rose from his table and made his way to the Ravenclaw table to alert his son to the situation. After making sure the younger children had adequate oversight, he grabbed some Floo powder and stepped toward the fireplace in his office.

The obstetric ward of St. Mungo's was quiet except for one room at the end of the hall. When he poked his head in the door, Emily smiled and walked into the hall with him. "She's fighting it, but she'll do fine in the end. Would you rather be in there or in the waiting room?"

Snape swallowed hard. "I think I'll stay in the waiting room. I've had my share of being in the birth room."

Emily's eyes started to twinkle. "That's fine. Augusta is already there. Mum and I are taking turns being in the room to help and coming out here. We have other patients, too, of course." She walked with him into the waiting room and sat down with him. She looked at the older witch, who was trying to find something to concentrate upon in an old issue of _Transfiguration Today_. "No change, Augusta. It will be sometime this evening, I think."

The afternoon dragged on. Emily looked in and gave reports before going back to her patients or back to the birthing room. Occasionally Margo Smith did the same. Just before dinner time, Neville wandered into the waiting room and sat down, looking sheepish as he did so.

"She was yelling at me, so Emily suggested that I come here."

Snape's eyebrow went up as he scowled at his son-in-law. "Was there a problem?"

Emily peeked in the door, herself. "There's no problem. Things are progressing and this part is just very difficult for her. I'll come back for Neville when it's time."

Another hour passed. Snape glared at his son-in-law, while Augusta Longbottom gave her grandson expectant looks. Neville tried very hard not to catch the eye of either. He was relieved to see his wife's grandmother in the doorway, summoning him. "Come quickly," she said. "It won't be long, now, and Hope is asking for you."

The clock showed the passage of another half hour when Emily came into the waiting room and sat down in exhaustion with a beatific smile upon her face. "A boy!" she said as her husband took her hand. Augusta stood and clapped her hands. Emily continued. "He's a bright and healthy boy. He looked so surprised by the world after we got him cleaned up. It reminded me of nothing so much as the moment the Sorting hat dropped on Frank's head. Do you remember?"

Emily looked at her husband but he was miles away. Although he had known it was happening since last spring, suddenly his life had changed. It came to him that this is what it meant to win the war and survive all of those sessions with the Dark Lord. He was living a long ago dream to watch his children grow up and to see his grandchildren come into the world and perhaps grow up, too.

Augusta couldn't wait to go meet her great-grandson, but the Snapes sat for a little while, basking in the moment. Severus thought Emily looked almost as tired as if she had given birth to the baby, herself, while Emily thought that being in the waiting room must have been more exhausting than her part had been. They sat with hands clasped together and not speaking. Finally, Severus leaned over and spoke.

"Is this what you had in mind that night when you first seduced me?" She could feel him smiling as he kissed her ear.

"In what revisionist version of events did I seduce you?" she responded, playfully, turning her head so that her lips were close to his. "I can't admit to thinking about more than having your hands on my bare skin and where that would lead."

"That's what I mean. Did you expect it to lead to grandchildren?" He was pulling her closer.

She settled into his arms. "Grandchildren would have been a stretch given the fact that I didn't consider that it would to lead to Hope. I'm terribly short-sighted when you're touching me."

"Hmm..." He pondered the thought of touching bare skin and wondered if his wife would be interested in being his snake charmer that night. Pulling his thoughts together, he came back to the occasion at hand. "And yet it did lead to a grandchild. Do you suppose we could go see him?"

"Where are my manners? Introductions are definitely in order." Emily jumped up and took her husband's hand, leading him to his daughter's room.

_A/N: Thank you to beta reader Trickie Woo._


	2. Portrait of a Young Wizard

_Disclaimer: Except for some OCs, the characters here and the world in which they live are the creation and property of JK Rowling._

Headmaster Snape answered his office door one evening and was assailed by a wall of wailing. Moving past his sense of hearing, he observed his grandson being held in the hands of a frustrated and terrified father. Neville's face had the look Snape had last seen just before a cauldron exploded during a fifth year Potions class.

"Problems, Longbottom?" It was hard to keep a straight face or an even tone of voice with the child crying so.

"Is Emily here?"

"She was asked to attend a birth in the village." The boy (as Snape still thought of Neville) had a look on his face that would have been enjoyable if it had come without such loud noise.

Neville shook his head. "I don't know what to do with him. He won't eat and won't sleep. His diaper is clean..."

Snape reached for his grandson and looked into his eyes, before holding him to his shoulder. The crying quieted to a fussy whimper. "Where is the child's mother?" The elder wizard led the way down the steps.

"She went back to work this week and tonight she's on patrol. They got a call about some suspicious activities in a small town, somewhere." The Herbology professor was too distressed to remember.

"I see. Did she leave you his schedule?"

"It says that it's time for his bath, but Hope always does that."

"Then this is your chance, Longbottom, to learn to do it yourself."

The two men made their way to the small cottage behind the greenhouses where the Herbology professor's family lived. They continued to the bathroom, and Snape found all of the paraphernalia necessary to wash a baby was laid out. "Watch carefully, Longbottom. It's not that difficult."

After warming the water to the proper temperature, the grandfather carefully washed the baby's face. He then stripped young Frank and placed him in the small bathtub, his forearm around the child's back and his hand grasping his arm. With his free hand he quickly washed the baby's arms, torso, legs, and diaper region. He finished by washing the child's hair, rinsing it with fresh water and finally placed the clean baby into the towel he directed Neville to hold.

Neville looked with new eyes upon the man who had been his teacher, father-in-law and boss. Snape was rolling his sleeves back down as they moved into the nursery. Frank was quickly diapered and dressed in a new gown. Relaxed after his bath, he happily took his bottle and went to sleep in his father's arms. The Headmaster summoned a house-elf and requested that a particular bottle of Old Ogden's be brought to the cottage.

As they waited for the Firewhisky, Neville held the child to his shoulder and quietly patted and rubbed his back. He found that he was almost dozing off himself, but came back to stark awareness when a large noise was made, and the diaper under his hand changed shape. Snape almost laughed aloud at the new look of terror on the young father's face.

"Steady on, Longbottom. You've faced Death Eaters with more fortitude."

The young father looked up in consternation. "It didn't matter to me if I hurt the Death Eaters."

They went back to the nursery where the grandfather gathered two fresh diapers and the other items necessary to change the baby. "What's the second diaper for?" asked Neville.

"You will see."

The old diaper was unfastened and almost immediately a stream of liquid hit the young father in the face. The grandfather quickly stepped closer and dropped the extra diaper on top of the baby's nether regions to catch the flow. Snape waited while Neville cleaned himself off and then held the baby so that Neville could clean the baby and put on the new diaper. The used diapers were properly cleared away, and the men of the family returned to the sitting room. This time there were drinks all around as the elf had returned with the Firewhisky, and the baby took a new bottle.

"How do you know how to take care of babies so well?"

"I'm the father of six children, Neville. Emily liked to care for them as much as she could, herself, but sometimes it simply wasn't possible."

"It doesn't fit the general impression of you," Neville commented. Seeing the look on the Headmaster's face he quickly added, "Sir."

Thinking for a moment, Severus finally answered, "Well, Neville, I have six children, but I'm not your father."

Neville nodded at that. "You made it look so easy."

"Again, I helped my wife care for six babies. The hardest part is having all of the materials at hand. If you gather everything before you start, it will go quickly. Just like Potions. Beyond that, you will find it gets easier the more you practice."

A couple of hours later the Floo sprung to life and a tired Auror stepped out. Barely acknowledging her father or husband, she stepped over and took the baby and walked toward the bedrooms. "Here's my little man! Did you miss me? I hope you're hungry..." Soft syllables continued as she moved down the hallway.

The two wizards looked at each other and shared a grim smile. The Headmaster stood up. "That's probably my cue to leave. If she's like her mother, she will want to talk about what she did today while feeding the baby."

Neville walked him to the door. "I can't thank you enough, Sir."

"Consider it part of your education. And Neville," he said, pausing at the door, "after all we did together tonight, you should probably start calling me Severus."

* * *

"Here, now! Young man, we don't do that at Hogwarts."

Headmaster Snape was speaking around a splatter of porridge that had been spit into his face by his grandson. The boy's mother had a meeting at the Ministry this morning, and his father was teaching a fourth year class. Meanwhile Emily was at St. Mungo's. That left Snape to take on grandfather duty while the Snape children were at lessons with a tutor.

He cleared the mess with a flick of his wand and picked the spoon back up. The women had entrusted the boy to him, expecting the child to be properly fed and cared for. He stared at the small face before him and changed his tactic. He lowered his voice.

"Mr. Longbottom, you are a member of two great Wizarding families. You come from a line of witches and wizards who have made their mark. They have lived through conflict and have triumphed." The child, mesmerized by his grandfather's voice, opened his mouth as the spoon approached. "If you pay attention, we will teach you how to use your own powers. Wandwork, Potions, Healing and Defensive Arts... it can all be yours if you concentrate and learn." Another spoonful of porridge reached its destination. "I will teach you to avoid being a dunderhead and to achieve greatness." The cereal disappeared with little trouble as he continued to speak to the child.

Emily was the first adult to arrive back in the Headmaster's rooms. She found her husband lying on the couch with the small body cradled on his chest. She smiled to see the eldest and youngest men in her life both asleep. She reached down to pick up her grandson and her smile grew deeper as her husband's arms tightened protectively.

He woke up as he realized she was there. "What time is it?" He released his hold on the baby, and she put him into a portable crib.

"It's a couple of hours until dinner. I left work early this afternoon. How long has he been sleeping?"

"Let me think. I gave him his lunch, as directed, and we went for a walk on the grounds. Then we came back and settled down with a bottle...perhaps an hour or so."

"At his age he might sleep another hour." Emily left a thought hanging there as she sat on the edge of the couch.

Her husband sat up to give her space next to him. "Are you suggesting that we scandalize another generation of our family?"

"Why, Headmaster Snape, are you suggesting scandalous behavior?"

Faster than she expected, he pinned her on the couch beneath him. He leered down upon her until she lifted her arms around his neck and her lips to his. They kissed and compared their activities that day, passing a delightful hour until a knock on the door indicated the arrival of their daughter.

They were sitting primly at opposite ends of the couch when Hope entered, but something in their faces told her what they had been doing. "At it again?" she asked. "You realize you're the most embarrassing parents on record."

Hearing his mother's voice, young Frank Longbottom started to fuss quietly. She picked him up and then asked her parents about his care during the time she was away. Hope didn't believe that he had eaten his cereal. "He hardly ever eats it for me," she said.

Her father smirked at her. "Hm, well, Mrs. Longbottom, I would guess that your technique could use some work."

"All of you children were much better behaved for him than for me," said Emily.

Hope looked at her parents and smiled with her father. "How did you do it?" she asked him, wanting pointers.

Her father simply lifted an eyebrow and said, "I believe that's going to be my secret."

* * *

March 2012

"Young man, that's not how we behave at Hogwarts."

A mischievous five-year-old looked up from where he had crawled under some chairs and answered only somewhat impudently, "But we're not at Hogwarts. We're at St. Mungo's, Granddad."

Headmaster Snape looked firmly down at the boy. "It doesn't matter where we are, young man. Everyone knows we live at Hogwarts, so they will expect us to behave ourselves wherever we are."

Frank Longbottom crawled back out and sat next to his grandfather, glancing at the others in the room. He whispered up to his grandfather. "Are they all here because my mama is sick?"

Severus explained quietly. "You know your mama isn't exactly sick. She's getting you a baby brother or sister. These people are here because other mamas are getting babies today, too."

"Do I have to share my broom with my brother?" asked the boy.

"You know that it could easily be a sister, and the answer is no. The baby will be far too little to worry about brooms for a long time."

"What if it's a sister? What does someone do with sisters?"

"Pretty much the same thing as with brothers. You would play with her and help Mama and Dad take care of her."

"Can I teach her spells?"

"I think we'll leave that for the staff at Hogwarts, young man. You will both learn your spells better if you wait to be taught by your teachers."

The little face looked a bit annoyed at that, but brightened as Augusta Longbottom came in.

"Gran! Mama is getting us a baby brother or sister."

"Yes, Frank, I know."

Augusta looked fondly at the small boy as she made her way to a chair and sat down. She was walking a bit slower now than in years past, but she was still a force to reckon with. Not many people crossed her wishes. She spoke to Severus.

"I was up seeing Frank and Alice. I think Alice understands what's going on, and even Frank knows that something special is happening today."

"I know something special is happening, Gran," put in the child."

"Yes, dear, but I was talking about your Grandfather Frank."

"I like Grandfather Frank. He always smiles at me and shakes my hand."

"Yes he does, dear."

Hope and Neville had brought young Frank to see the Longbottoms on the day after he was born. Their reaction to him had been quite unexpected. Alice had spoken to the baby. She had not said much beyond the child's name, but she clearly understood who the baby was in relation to herself. Frank had simply looked at the child, although with more animation than had been seen in his eyes for some time. Now, when the child visited, they both reached to take his hand and Alice seemed to follow his childish conversations.

The day wore on and young Frank grew restless. His grandfather took him for a walk around the hallways, ending at the tea shop, where they had a snack. They took a long route back to the waiting room and when they arrived, the child yawned widely. His grandfather transfigured a chair into a cot and put the boy down for a nap.

The afternoon continued to pass and some families erupted in joy and left as their happy news came, while other families joined the throng in the waiting room. The boy woke and played for a while with his toy wand. Young Frank was a bit more successful than was safe, and his grandfather had to intervene, causing the elderly great-grandmother to reminisce fondly about her own little boy. Finally Margo Smith came into the waiting room with a smile upon her face and Snape looked at his mother-in-law expectantly. "Well?" he said.

"She looks exactly like my Emily did when she was born," said the Healer. "It was much easier this go around, and the last time I saw a father so besotted with his daughter, Severus, was the day the twins were born."

Headmaster Snape turned red and looked around the room with a serious look on his face. It wouldn't do for the other families to think he was soft. He had a reputation to uphold and school discipline to maintain, after all.

"Is my Mama ok?" piped up young Frank, who bounced on his chair.

Margo leaned down to the boy. "She's just fine except that she wants to see you."

"Does she miss me?"

"Indeed she does, and she also wants you to meet your brand new baby sister."

The boy looked up seriously. "A baby sister won't want to have my broom."

The great-grandmother looked down. "No, I don't think she will, at least not until you are quite finished with it."

"I guess she's ok, then."

"She's more than ok, young man, she's wonderful. Come see for yourself."

* * *

September 1, 2018

Frank Longbottom had looked forward to today as along as he could remember. Last week Mum and Dad had brought him to Diagon Alley and gotten all of his things together, and today he was riding the Hogwarts Express for the first time ever. As he sat in a compartment with second year student James Potter and Potter's Weasley cousins, he thought about which house he would be in.

James was Gryffindor, of course. His whole family, on both sides, had been Gryffindor for a very long time. There was a joke in their family that to not be Gryffindor would be a horrible thing. James said they weren't really serious about it, though. Gran wanted Frank to be Gryffindor, too. Since Gran wanted it, so did Dad. Great Grandma Margo said that Ravenclaw was a good house and Grandma Emily smiled and said whichever house he went to would be better because he was in it. Mum wouldn't say what she wanted, but would only tell him she expected him to be in the right place, and to be happy wherever he was. His uncles each wanted him in their houses. The aunties told him that whichever house he Sorted to, he needed to just stay out of their way. Since they would have too much studying and "other" things to do, they didn't have time to deal with a firstie.

Frank had a nervous fascination with Mum's and Granddad's house. Everyone knew that most of the bad wizards and witches were Slytherin. Still, Granddad was a hero for spying against Voldemort, and Mum fought against the Death Eaters at the Battle of Hogwarts. Whenever Frank had asked Granddad which house he should be in, Granddad would tell him that somehow the hat would know. Then Granddad would drill him on spell blocking. He rarely gave anything away, but Granddad could be counted on to teach a really cool block or hex most days.

He sighed and listened in on the conversation in the compartment. The other boys were talking about Quidditch. It seemed that you couldn't belong to that family and not be Quidditch-crazy. Frank liked to watch the game, but he didn't think he would play much, if at all. His parents had let him fly on a toy broom and he did pretty well with that, but when his Mum put him on a real one a year ago, it hadn't worked very well at all. Dad had ruffled his hair and told him that he wasn't very good at flying, either. Mum had laughed at that and then they had started talking about their first flying lesson at school, and how Harry Potter had saved Dad's Remembrall. Mum finally told Frank that it would get easier as he practiced. He was already better than he had been, but it still wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world.

Finally they arrived in Hogsmeade. Frank had been to the village and the school hundreds of times before, of course, but this was completely different. He knew that Mum and his sister, Amy, were probably having dinner in the cottage right now, unless they were up in the Headmaster's office with Grandma Emily. Mum had taken him to King's Cross this morning, and he knew that she was going to Floo home after working a part-day at the Ministry. He ignored the twinge of homesickness at the thought of being so close to his family and yet in a new and different world.

Professor Hagrid took all of the first years on the boats, just as Frank had always been told. The other first years on the boat with him hypothesized about Sorting and how it would work. They asked his name and when he told them, they asked about his dad and grandfather. It wasn't too bad being the son of a well known hero of the war and the grandson of another, but it could get a bit awkward. At least it wasn't as bad as being James, whose father had a bank holiday in his honor and whose picture was in the paper every few weeks. When they had gone to Diagon Alley to get their things together, the Potter family was recognizable by the small crowd of reporters that followed them around. The Longbottoms so far had avoided that sort of notoriety.

Tonight the other kids wanted to know about the snake and whether Dad and Granddad would really be wearing boots made from Nagini's skin. They only wore the boots for special occasions, like the Start of Term Feast, and Frank answered in the affirmative. Then the other kids wanted to know what he could tell them about the school. Frank had been around the halls and everything, but he couldn't tell much. Professors tended to keep their pre-Hogwarts-aged children out of sight during term.

When they were placed in the holding room, the kids from the boat whispered with the other kids until every first year knew who he was. That got a bit awkward and he wondered if he would have any friends in his class. Peeves came in, then, and scared some of the Muggle-born girls to death. The house ghosts followed Peeves and introduced themselves and their houses. That left Frank to wonder anew which house he would Sort to. His family affiliations were so varied.

Professor Chang came and lined them up, so there wasn't much more time to think about it. They walked into the Great Hall. Frank had been there many times, but had never seen it looking so grand. He stood in line and watched and listened as the other first years were sorted. Finally the Professor Chang read her scroll and summoned "Longbottom, Francis." As he walked up to the Sorting Hat, Frank caught a glimpse of Nearly-Headless Nick giving him thumbs up.

"Ah, a new member of a great family," said the Sorting Hat by way of introduction. The hat had a way of speaking in Frank's head so no one else heard. "There's so much here, already. With your heritage and your talents, you could be anywhere. One of these days I'm going to refuse to sort a student like you, but this Headmaster would reduce me to a pile of lint if I did. Let's see...you would rather not be Hufflepuff, and Helga's house is full enough right now. Everyone thinks that's the best way to get into the Ministry. Hm... smarts, loyalty, bravery... All things considered, there is one house that is a good fit, and I didn't need your meddlesome grandmother to tell me so."

The Headmaster watched intently as the hat deliberated. He vaguely remembered the older Frank Longbottom being sorted, and the lad on the three-legged stool did look like his other grandfather. When Sorting, though, it was not looks, but the nature of one's character that mattered. Snape tried not to get too personal about watching where the students Sorted, but he was quite competitive about it. He was still Slytherin enough to care whether certain children came to his House.

The only person in the Headmaster's rooms after the feast was the Headmaster's wife. She sat on a couch, calmly reading a trade journal when her husband came up the stairs. She stood and looked expectantly at him as he came into the room. She then sighed in annoyance when neither his lips nor his face told how Frank's Sorting went. Severus enjoyed telling these stories in his own way and time. There was nothing for Emily to do but follow his lead.

He extinguished the lights and pulled her to their bedroom, where the noises that ensued were not the sort of ones that would describe the Feast at all. If Emily were asked, she would freely admit that at some point between helping her husband with his coat and having his lips pressed to her bare shoulder, she ceased to care. Her one conscious thought was that if such magic were possible between two people at their age, she was happy to be one of the two people.

"Be careful of those boots. They have someone to inherit them, now." Emily was almost dozing off when his voice rumbled into her neck.

"Ah... the honeyed voice of my husband. You are breaking your vow of silence, then?"

"Perhaps you should take them off now, if you're not going to show me how you manage to get them onto your own feet..."

"That will remain my secret," she responded smugly. "It's nice to have one thing you can't do better than I can, even if it's inconsequential."

"It's of great consequence, especially if it leads to further wear on the boots themselves—"

"Which we need to protect because, I take it, young Frank will at some point receive them?"

"They should go to a Slytherin." Even in the dark, Emily could recognize the smile on his face.

"You've been hoping for this since Severus Sorted." There was laughter in her voice.

"I won't deny it."

"You sound so smug. What if he receives his father's boots?"

"Those are Gryffindor boots, but as long as he gets a pair, I will be content."

Emily removed the boots and put them in their box where they would await the next important event for which they would be worn. Severus pulled his wife into his arms and drifted to sleep, pleased with a world in which they could contentedly watch their grandchildren grow.

_A/N: Many thanks to Trickie Woo, who beta read this in the midst of a computer's untimely death._

This is a quick two shot to explore a side of Severus Snape I've seen very rarely in fandom. There is a bit of an idea for a proper sequel to Two Sides buried in the first chapter. If it interests you, let me know. Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for reviewing!


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